Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
As we are nearing the end of the school year, I am happy to be able to find some material to supplement our learning. We had the opportunity to review The Hidden Message of the Great Seal by Michael Kanis. The mission of The Hidden Message, LLC, is to uncover the secrets of our nation’s seal in order to “rescue a republic in peril.”
My twelve-year-old decided that she wanted to read this book for herself as she has become quite the avid reader lately! So, I did an overview of the material so I could follow up with her and then sent her off on her own. To be honest, I was quite surprised that she was willing to review this book as it is 260 pages and very technical reading.
According to her, The Hidden Message of the Great Seal is “exciting, but boring.” Obviously, she needed to explain herself further! She seemed to enjoy parts of the book, especially learning about the time capsule at the beginning of the book and the Illuminati later on; and she enjoyed some of the historical facts, but she was lost by all of the charts that are included in the book. I think the charts threw off her focus of the material and were not clearly defined as to what they are. In her words, “Some parts are easy to understand; but in other parts, he goes off into a different place, and I had no idea what he was talking about.”
The illustrations were a huge help, though. In fact, her favorite part of the book was the pictures. There are pictures and illustrations on just about every page, which really helps to break up the small text.
Physically, this book is a little hard to handle. It is a soft-cover book, which makes it a little floppier, and it’s very long and rectangular, which makes it hard to hold onto. Because it’s also a wordy book with a lot of pages, the size makes it almost impossible to look at if you aren’t sitting down at a table or desk. My daughter prefers to read in strange, out-of-the-way places, so this made it especially difficult for her. I think that a book this size would fare better as a hard copy, square book.
I believe that this book was intended for children and adults alike, but I think it would be more appropriate for high school and college students, rather than for elementary-aged kids as mine all are.
I would say that this is definitely a great resource for anyone studying our government or who is interested in learning more about how our country was formed and why we have the Seal to begin with. This is a heavily Christian book as well, since the author is using comparisons from our nation’s history to point to references in Scripture.
It is a wonderfully illustrated and thoroughly researched book, so I think that many students and adults will be blessed by its contents. The author has graciously provided a coupon code for me to extend to my readers for a limited time. To purchase this book for 50% off of its original retail price of $29.95, just enter the code HOMESCHOOL at checkout. The code is only good until May 30, 2020, so be sure to purchase yours soon!
But I always say that you shouldn’t just take my word for something! Follow some of my other Homeschool Review Crew friends and see what they have to say about it!
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